Baton Rouge --
There hasn't been a quarterback on the LSU defense's radar this season quite
like Texas A&M freshman Johnny Manziel, but don't expect wholesale changes
from the Tigers as they try to corral the SEC's newest and maybe most productive offensive dynamo this
week.

When
the No. 6-ranked Tigers (6-1, 2-1 SEC) and 20th-ranked Aggies (5-1,
2-1) tangle at 11 a.m. Saturday at Kyle Field, the mercurial Manziel will
certainly have his share of the spotlight.

After
all, he enters this week leading the SEC in rushing with 676 yards and a 7.4
yard-per-carry average and is third in passing yards with 1,680.

This
will be the third week in a row LSU has faced a dual-threat quarterback, and
neither Florida's Jeff Driskel nor South Carolina's Connor Shaw made a huge
impact. Driskel managed only 1 net rushing yard and passed for 61, while Shaw
was held to minus-1 yard and passed for 177 -- most on the Gamecocks' desperate
next-to-last drive.

"Just
like we did (last) week with Shaw, we'll count on our d-line to get some
pressure and keep the quarterback contained," safety Eric Reid said. "They did
a great job with that this week.

Defensive
end Barkevious Mingo, a former track star at West Monroe who has become
notorious for chasing unsuspecting quarterbacks down from behind, said he's
eager to see what kind of challenge Manziel presents to a Tigers defense
allowing only 89.3 rushing yards and 219.6 total yards a game -- both rank
second in the SEC.

"I
love quarterbacks that try to get out of the pocket because they let their guard
down," said Mingo, who has two sacks among his 20 tackles this season. He leads
LSU with eight quarterback hurries. "They don't know what's coming from their
other side."

Louisiana
Tech never figured out which side of Manziel to pester last week when he ran
for 181 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 395 yards and two more
scores.

That
was his fourth game this season with 100 yards or more on the ground and second
with 300-plus yards through the air. Manziel's least productive game of the
season was his belated college debut on Sept. 8 when Florida limited him to 233 total
yards in a 20-17 Gators victory.

"The
kid can run," Loston said. "He's just like the last quarterback (Shaw). You'll
have to stick with the person you're defending a little bit longer."

Brief scare, but back
in action

Reid
had to be helped off the field Saturday with what he called a bruised sternum,
but he got back on the field for the final two series.

LSU safety Eric Reid suffered a bruised sternum, but returned later Saturday night and said he expects to play at Texas A&M.Associated Press

The
injury occurred at the end of a 29-yard interception return in the fourth
quarter that set up LSU's go-ahead field goal.

"In
the middle of the third quarter, I fell on somebody's cleat and when I got
tackled it got a lot worse," Reid said. "As a competitor, you don't want to sit
out. I wanted to be out there with teammates.

"It
was kind of uncomfortable, but with adrenalin flowing, it wasn't bad."

Reid
said he will be limited in contact work this week and may wear extra padding to
protect his chest but has "every intention of playing."

Reid missed the regular-season finale against Arkansas last season with a torn quad muscle.

Phantom foul?

Loston
was called for a personal foul on South Carolina's next-to-last drive when he
honed in receiver D.L. Moore near the sideline as Moore tried unsuccessfully to
haul in a pass from Shaw.

Television
replays showed that Loston did not make contact, but did lead with his head and
would've collided with Moore out of bounds.

"That's
the first time I've been called for a personal foul for not hitting anybody,"
Loston said. "I was upset a little bit. I had the intentions on hitting him, but
when I saw him going out of bounds, I pulled up and I turned my body sideways
to miss him."

LSU
coach Les Miles spoke briefly to Loston as he came off the field after the
flag.

"He
just told me to be smarter about the things I do in a late situation," Loston
said.

Celebrate and move on

After
a rough week of criticism before the win over Carolina, the entire LSU
offensive line took a minute to celebrate Sunday when the players got together
with position coach Greg Studrawa.

"It
was emotional for everybody," senior left tackle Josh Dworaczyk said. "Coach
Stud has been criticized, but he has a lot on his plate. Obviously the offense,
the way we were playing, and the offensive line, that's his two spots. Those
are his two babies. For us to be able to play like that and prove to him we had
that in us was huge."

Two
veterans weren't around for the win against the Gamecocks or the celebration.

Alex Hurst

Alex
Hurst missed the game as he dealt with non-football personal issues back home
in Tennessee and Josh Williford wasn't in the stadium as he continued to
wrestle with concussion symptoms after he missed the final three quarters
against Florida after taking a blow to the head.

"I don't know how those two guys are faring," Miles said at his Monday press
conference. "I have no information at this time that would change their status."

Dworaczyk
said he has communicated with Hurst, "but not to any extent about what's going
on. I was just wishing him the best of luck."

Asked
if there was a chance Hurst, who started the first six games at the two
tackles spots, might be back, Dworaczyk said "I hope so. If he can be back
this week, it would be great for our o-line."

Deeds trump words

At
least a couple of South Carolina defenders tried to rattle LSU quarterback Zach
Mettenberger before the game Saturday, including All-American end Jadeveon
Clowney, who reportedly told him (and others) that he wouldn't finish the game.

Mettenberger
downplayed the exchange on Monday, saying "Trash talking isn't part of my game.
... I'm not too worried about it because we got the win."

Clowney
recorded six tackles, but didn't have a sack and was rarely close to
Mettenberger. He was often stranded several yards away from plays.

Afterward,
Mettenberger credited Dworaczyk.

"Old
Man Rivers with the two mechanical knees had a hell of a game," Mettenberger
said.

Extra motivation

LSU
punter Brad Wing will be the first to admit that his outing against South Carolina
was anything but solid.

The
Tigers' sophomore averaged a career-low 33.5 yards on four punts, including 10-
and 24-yard clunkers, a third that wound up as a touchback and his best kick of
the day that went 56 yards outkicking his coverage to set up Ace Sanders'
50-yard return.

In
an online report, Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel wrote about the "decline of
Brad Wing, who has gone from the country's biggest special teams weapon to a
liability."

"I'm
just going to be honest and not try and sugar-coat it; I thought it was real
stupid," Wing said. "I think I've established a real good resume for myself here
at LSU, and for him to call me a liability, I just thought it was stupid. It
was almost so farfetched I didn't take any offense to it."

As
rankled as the Australian and normally affable Tigers punter was about the SI
blurb, he was quick to criticize his performance.

"After
last season, everybody expects me to go back there and bomb a 70-yarder," he
said. "I'm human. I had a terrible game. I went and watched film and studied it
and I'll make the adjustments I need to. ... I
think I was putting a bit of pressure on myself to try and hit that 70-yarder
every time."

Part
of it, Wing said, was mishandling a short field mentally. His first attempt
came from the Carolina 38-yard line -- borderline field-goal range. Trying to drop
a punt near the goal line, Wing instead shanked it out of bounds.

"On
the short punt -- punts from the 37 -- I don't like doing that, but I've got to
get that thought process out of my mind," he said. "I was trying to be too
cautious with it."

Quote of note

"Being
able to have Spencer, (Ware) line up at quarterback, that's something huge for
us as an offense to have a guy back there that's mobile. Zach's not mobile, and
everybody understands that."

Dworaczyk
on Spencer Ware lining up twice under center in place of Mettenberger